Factory Five design contest thread

here is what I submitted a few days ago.

I looked at my love for the 914, the relatively unheard of Bocar, the Lotus 7/Catterham, and small coupes like 510s and the subie 2.5RS for inspiration. Im not at all versed in digital 3d design tools, so MS Paint is what I have to work with.

Im trying not to get hung up on unimportant details that the FF team of real engineers can hammer out. This is just a simple line drawing representing the feel and overall look Im going for. If the rear hatch has to be 19.235 centimeters taller or the door has to be 9% wider or the radiator grills have to be moved a fraction of a cubit closer to the rear wheel arch to fit, so be it. This is as simple as it comes, and I want a simple racecar killer that can be driven on the street. I am happy with this, and I hope you all are too, but if not, I dont care. I like it

In reply to Cr8tr:

Like Tom had said, just focus on the design aspect, if you design for 20s, it won't be that difficult to scale down to 17s. That is the nice thing about working in digital, you can scale and stretch your dimensions after you nail down the design aspect. I wouldn't worry about making a 100% finished product at this point. Plus you can revise and resubmit if need be.

Some issues I am having

1. The template changed from day 1 and I was only able to download the new ones starting today, thats why the rear overhang on my blue Halcyon design is so short.

2. In the driver template the driver is sitting much too high for a spartan 1800 lb MR roadster. It looks like he is sitting on a booster seat. In turn that sitting position forces the roll hoop to be much higher than it needs to be, which essentially ruins the proportions for many appealing designs. This is one of thing things I really want to note on the template and the chassis design. The drivers ass should be barely a few inches from the floor of the car ~5-6inches. Right now it measures out to well over a foot and a half.

3. It has been well over a week since I registered for the FF forums and my account has not yet been approved to post. With the GRM site being as stable as Charlie Sheen over the weekend, the amount of resources for me to share and discuss designs are low.

I have a question, I am from europe, can I take part on this design contest? or is it limited to just american people? thank you and I hope I can take part on it!

Stavros wrote: In reply to Cr8tr: Like Tom had said, just focus on the design aspect, if you design for 20s, it won't be that difficult to scale down to 17s. That is the nice thing about working in digital, you can scale and stretch your dimensions after you nail down the design aspect. I wouldn't worry about making a 100% finished product at this point. Plus you can revise and resubmit if need be.

Exactly.

Stavros wrote: With the GRM site being as stable as Charlie Sheen over the weekend, the amount of resources for me to share and discuss designs are low.

Sorry about the trouble over the weekend; I've isolated and resolved (crosses fingers) the problem so you should be fine for now.

I unfortunately didnt have a ton of time to work on this over the weekend(and with the site down) i couldnt ask any questions. What is the weekly gallery thing you guys are talking about? Are there weekly winners for early submissions?

Mine. If you look at the Lamborghini Embolado concept you can see a lot of the quarter treatment in there. Ny design would utilize a 24.88" tall 205/55r16 and 225/50r16 tire on 7 and 8" wheels with similar backside setting.

PS122 wrote:

Stavros wrote: I threw this together over the week, hope you guys like it. It's heavily Porsche influenced but I don't think you''ll will mind.

Really like this one!

If a prize for "Forum Choice" is awarded, I vote for this one.

Unfortunately, everything I come up with just looks like an ugly Elise...

Here is another one. The doors swing out pretty much flush with the side vent.

Next one I'll do will be an edgy, no frills rally/track special.

Maybe I'm missing something, but has Factory Five provided dimensions on the engine+trans assembly? I think a lot of you guys are underestimating the distance required from the transmission output (think axle centerline) to the front of the crankshaft. A few of these drawings would result in the a cam pulley rubbing on your ass cheeks, and nobody likes that. Well, few anyway.

I'm a CAD kind of guy, and I have an extremely hard time believing FF wouldn't be using CAD to create their new chassis. If so, they should have a basic model of the Subie powertrain that they can provide to guys that are designing for this and actually want to make something with realistic and usable proportions.

Bryce

Nashco wrote: Maybe I'm missing something, but has Factory Five provided dimensions on the engine+trans assembly?

See the 1st template. The engine and trans seem to be outlined.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/f5download/

Well, either my Adobe isn't working right or I'm losing my mind, because I don't see anything in between the rear tire circles and the driver's stomach area. That's the area I'm imagining the ass-to-cam interference.

Bryce

Nashco wrote: Well, either my Adobe isn't working right or I'm losing my mind, because I don't see anything in between the rear tire circles and the driver's stomach area. That's the area I'm imagining the ass-to-cam interference. Bryce

There is only a vague line there, but here is what I have been using to define that area.

Even if I am 25% off, our turdcutters should still be safe from high rpm intrusion.

Also note at how ridiculously high the driver is sitting from the minimum limit on the chassis floor.

Seriously though, I wouldn't get too caught up arguing semantics over the technical specifications. Pen something appealing, roughly to shape of the templates, share it with the community, and then go from there.

Thanks for the windshield download! got a little bit of a start

I agree - the seat height and driver seating position aren't correct. Ah well, still a fun project. Hopefully they'll let us in on the real CAD soon.

Stavros wrote: Here is another one. The doors swing out pretty much flush with the side vent. Next one I'll do will be an edgy, no frills rally/track special.

Well fine then, I may as well not draw anything, that's nearly exactly the look I wish I could draw!

Nice looking work, Stavros!

armstrom wrote: While I can see the point of view of wanting something a bit more.. "modest" than the 918 I personally would like to see something a bit more flashy than a lotus 7 replica. I'm actually toying with the idea of a MK Midi kit (bike engined mid-engine kit in a 7-esque style) but it feels a bit TOO "kit car ish" for my tastes. Not a serious head-turner.. Part of what attracted me to the FF GTR was that it had a full body and gave that supercar feel but at a more moderate price. Now, it turns out that the "donor" parts for the GTR still put it a bit out of reach for most builders of modest means like myself... So the prospect of a sporty looking full-bodied car based on an affordable donor car with a kit price HALF that of the GTR is very attractive indeed. But I would still like to see something with a bit of form as well as function. To me the Lotus 7 style cars are all function. If you want to go fast around a track it's tough to find a better value, but if you want to look good cruising down the street or enjoy a weekend blast through the mountains and not have to pull over it there's a touch of rain, then something with a bit of style and some nice curves would do the job well :) Just my $0.02 though. I'm not a judge and they are the only ones who will truly determine what this car ends up looking like.

Do you mean the GTM?

Love how this one came out Stavros, I agree with Tuna, if i could draw, this is what i would be aiming for!

Stavros, Make sure to give that round taillights a la Ferrari and a a nice lowered center section of the hood. It's wonderful. if I was a judge you'd be winning with that one so far.

I wonder what Stavros lights would cost? it's the little things that will blow up the budget.

John Brown wrote: I wonder what Stavros lights would cost? it's the little things that will blow up the budget.

I keep thinking of those things too. I'd love to be able to recycle the bugeye/blobeye/hawkeye lights from my Impreza donor.

I guess i am giving up as my pencil sketches stand no chance with these guys...

Lots of updates today!

Click here to see the first of our "weekly winner" entries. (Note: There are some very strong entries that came in after the buzzer for the first week. We'll be choosing another weekly winner next week, so you'll be in that batch.)

I've also put a FAQ together. If you have more questions, there's a link at the bottom of the FAQ to get answers. This will be a little easier to manage than trying to keep up with the message board.

One more note- please make sure your entries have contact information ON THEM. It's cheap insurance to be certain that your entries are credited to you.

Damn that first one is killer!

OK, new question. Suppose Stavros submitted that design that I like so much last week before the cutoff for weekly finalist. Does that mean he's effectively lost? In other words, for the final winner, are all of the entries viewed again or are the weekly finalists the only ones considered?

Hey lets not forget that one of the most important British automotive designs started out as a pub napkin sketch by its designer.